The invention relates to golf practice devices and in particular to a golf practice apparatus directed to chipping a ball onto a target area as part of a practice game suitable for indoor or outdoor use.
Golf practice devices suitable for indoor or outdoor use have been designed to test and improve a golfer's technique. Some of the practice devices function as indoor driving ranges. Others, such as miniature golf courses, function as putting ranges. Still others provide a chip and putt game, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,939. U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,501 simulates a driving range, bunkers, greens, etc. Other patents disclosing various types of golf games or practice devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 83,498, Des. 234,526, Des. 239,299 and 4,018,436.
Chip shots are a particularly challenging part of the game of golf. As with other shots in golf, a player can improve his or her game by chipping with a high degree of accuracy. It would be advantageous to have a golf practice apparatus which is both challenging and interesting to the user and helps improve the accuracy of a golfer's chip shots.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a golf chipping practice apparatus which is relatively compact and thus suitable for indoor or outdoor use and which provides simulated chipping practice for the user.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a golf chipping practice apparatus on which a challenging and interesting golf chipping game is played, the game being suitable for individual play as well as match play against an opponent.
Accordingly, a golf chipping practice apparatus is provided for use by a player who is positioned in a ball hitting area of the apparatus. The apparatus comprises a ball receiving area onto which balls are chipped. The ball receiving area is divided into a plurality of target zones and further includes a plurality of regions, each of which encompasses a predetermined number of the target zones. A plurality of sensors are provided in the ball receiving area for detecting which target zone a ball lands in. And a scorekeeping device is provided which is responsive to the sensors for determining the target zone a ball lands in. The scorekeeping device also, simultaneously, counts the number of balls landing in each region of the ball receiving area. As such, both the target zone information and the number of balls landing in each region are available for scoring a game.
In the embodiment described below, the scorekeeping device automatically records both a total score, based on the target zones balls land in, and a count of the number of balls landing in each region of the ball receiving area. A round or game is completed when a predetermined number of balls have been chipped into each region of the ball receiving area.
The apparatus described below comprises a plurality of panels supported forward of the ball hitting area at which the player aims chip shots. Each panel forms one region of the ball receiving area of the apparatus. A plurality of target zones are provided on each of the panels. A plurality of sensors associated with each of the panels are used to detect the target zone a ball has landed on. The scorekeeping device generates and maintains a total score for each round of play.
Additional features of the preferred scorekeeping system of the invention include a device for accumulating a panel count for each panel, the panel count equalling the total number of balls landing on each panel. The panel count, which is used to determine the end of a round of play, is independent of the total score maintained by the scorekeeping device. The game played on the apparatus of the present invention is structured to challenge a golfer/user to direct chip shots to each of the aforementioned panels at least a predetermined minimum number of times as measured by the panel count. Aiming skill is tested by penalizing the player who hits more shots than the minimum required on any given panel, the penalty being the accumulation of additional total score for each extra shot taken. As in regular golf, a lower total score is desirable.
In the preferred embodiment, the invention incorporates three separate panels, termed Par 3, Par 4 and Par 5, and at least five target zones on each panel, termed eagle, birdie, par, bogey and double bogey (in order of ascending scoring value). The scorekeeping device accumulates the total score for each player or each game round and requires the player to aim for and hit several different targets throughout the course of a game. The player shooting the round with the lowest scoring value wins. Thus, the game encourages players to chip with high accuracy.